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Title overview

For introductory courses in policing.

Brief. Affordable. Visual.

Policing is a clear, thought-provoking exploration of core concepts, the latest research and current events shaping criminal justice today. Built to be affordable without sacrificing academic rigor, its pedagogy moves students beyond memorization to true understanding.

The 3rd Edition of Policing has been extensively revised with the latest research and court cases. It covers the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing and various police reform efforts.

Hallmark features of this title

A motivating storytelling approach

  • Chapter-opening vignettes present a story or current event related to chapter content, followed by a discussion question.
  • Readers will learn about the origins of modern policing, while staying connected to current issues.
  • Think About It sections highlight recent events in criminal justice and pose questions for discussion.

Learning tools

  • Critical-thinking boxes explore conflicts and ethical issues within the current news media.
  • Learning objectives at the start of each chapter have an associated icon. The icon appears in the relevant section and in end-of-chapter material, making it easy to locate key content.
  • Infographics, flow charts and pull-out statistics flow with the text. They promote engagement, recall and understanding.

New and updated features of this title

The realities of policing today

  • UPDATED: Compelling real-life case studies at the end of each chapter highlight the latest issues facing police administrators. Analytical discussion questions promote application of chapter concepts.
  • NEW: New topics introducing Chapters 4 to 7 include drug decriminalization and police hiring, the dangers and unpredictability of police work, the relationship between de-policing and rising crime, and predictive policing.
  • UPDATED: All chapters reflect the most cutting-edge research in the field, including the latest statistics and the most current cases available at the time of publication.

Police reform efforts

  • NEW: The President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing is now discussed in Chapter 1.
  • NEW: Several new technological additions to the law enforcement tool chest, including predictive analytics, automated license plate recognition, and body-worn cameras, are now covered in Chapter 9.
  • NEW: A discussion of the 2016 report Use of Force: Taking Policing to a Higher Standard now opens Chapter 13.

Table of contents

PART 1: FOUNDATIONS
1. Origins and Evolution of American Policing
2. Policing in the American Context
3. Law Enforcement Agencies and Their Organization

PART 2: A CAREER IN POLICING
4. Becoming a Police Officer
5. Police Subculture
6. Police Discretion and Behavior

PART 3: ON THE JOB
7. Core Police Functions
8. Community Policing and Community Involvement
9. Policing in the Modern Era

PART 4: LEGAL ISSUES
10. Policing and the Law
11. Civil Liability and Accountability

PART 5: CHALLENGES
12. Deviance, Ethics, and Professionalism
13. The Use of Force

Author bios

About our authors

John L. Worrall is professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). A Seattle native, he earned both his MA (criminal justice) and PhD (political science) from Washington State University, where he graduated in 1999. From 1999 to 2006, he was a member of the criminal justice faculty at California State University, San Bernardino. He joined UTD in the fall of 2006. Dr. Worrall has published articles and book chapters on topics ranging from legal issues in policing to crime measurement. He is also the author or coauthor of numerous textbooks, including Introduction to Criminal Justice (with Larry J. Siegel, 16th ed., Cengage, 2018) and Criminal Procedure: From First Contact to Appeal (6th ed., Pearson, 2019). He is also editor of the journal Police Quarterly and executive director of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Frank Schmalleger, PhD, holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame and The Ohio State University, having earned both a master's (1970) and a doctorate (1974) in sociology with a special emphasis in criminology from The Ohio State University. From criminal justice courses at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. For the last 16 of those years, he chaired the university's Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice. In 1991, he was awarded the title Distinguished Professor, and the university named him Professor Emeritus in 2001. Dr. Schmalleger is the author of numerous articles and many books, including the widely used Criminal Justice Today (Pearson, 2021), Criminology Today (Pearson, 2021), Criminal Law Today (Pearson, 2022) and Corrections in the 21st Century (with John Smykla, McGraw-Hill, 2021).

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